NAMM 2016: M-Audio Reveals New Piano and Module

Thursday, 21 January 2016

If you've been keeping up with M-Audio lately, you will have noticed that they're once again doing what they love best, which is releasing innovative and practical new music equipment. However, they also know a thing or two about creating instruments, as is evidenced by their newly introduced Accent Digital Piano and the matching Accent Module.

Sound source and keyboard

With the Accent Digital Piano, M-Audio introduces an electrical piano with a very competitive price. Notable features are the fully-weighted keyboard (meaning it feels like a real piano keyboard) with a full 88 keys. Using the built-in speakers, headphone outputs or line outputs, you can listen to the sounds of the excellent AIR Steinway Piano, for instance. Amongst the 20 instruments, you'll also find an electric piano, organ, strings and various other sounds. Furthermore, the Accent Piano comes with a sustain pedal.

Automatic backing styles

As an interesting addition for a digital piano in this price range, M-Audio included automatic backing styles (50 of them), just like you'd find on a keyboard. Also noteworthy are its XLR outputs, which ensures an interference-free connection to a mixing board, great for both performances and recording sessions. Of course, the Accent's primary use will likely be as a home piano for beginners and hobby players. If you're taking piano lessons, then the built-in Lesson mode might come in handy, as it splits the keyboard into two equal halves, allowing student and teacher to simultaneously play the same piece of music on one keyboard. You'll also find MIDI OUT connectors (5-pin and USB), allowing you to connect the piano to a computer or other MIDI-compatible device.

MIDI sound module

With MIDI keyboards becoming increasingly popular, MIDI modules are also in demand. As MIDI keyboards don't have any sounds or samples of their own, you usually need a computer to provide those. However, it can be quite a hassle to have to use a laptop every time. It looks messy when set up in the living room, and it's not entirely reliable when used on stage (as computers do tend to freeze up every now and again). The Accent Module is a great solution! It's a MIDI sound source with similar sounds to the Accent Digital Piano, including the Steinway piano sound. With a series of handy faders, you can mix up to three sounds together, add reverb an chorus, and apply a 3-band equalizer. You can connect a MIDI keyboard (or any other instrument with a MIDI output) to the back of this device using a 5-pin or USB MIDI cable. As such, it's also a great solution for a piano that still works perfectly well, but has some outdated sounds and samples on board. Finally, you can send the sound on to a mixer or amplifier using balanced jacks.

Keep an eye on the relevant product pages for up-to-date information on availability and pricing.